Work orienter

ABSTRACT

Orienting mechanism for electrical contacts of a type having a hollow sleeve portion at one end and a reduced diameter portion at the other end. A vibratory feed bowl supplies contacts seriatim, longitudinally aligned, but randomly faced, i.e., some with the hollow sleeve portion leading, and some with the reduced diameter portion leading. A reciprocating transfer plate moves contacts singly to an orienting slot in a base plate, the slot being narrow at its ends, wider at its median portion, so that whichever way a contact is facing when moved over the slot, it falls through the slot into a feed tube with its reduced diameter leading.

Kaczmarek' [451 Oct. 8, 1974 WORK ORIENTER [75] Inventor: Leonard J. Kaczmarek,

Wonderlake, Ill.

[73] Assignee: The Bunker-Ramo Corporation,

Oak Brook, 11].

[22] Filed: Apr. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 354,562

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 113,341, Feb. 8, 1971.

3,538,990 11/1970 Brouwer 198/33 AA Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Attorney, Agent, or FirmD. R. Bair; F. M. Arbuckle [57] ABSTRACT Orienting mechanism for electrical contacts of a type having a hollow sleeve portion at one end and a reduced diameter portion at the other end. A vibratory feed bowl supplies contacts seriatim, longitudinally aligned, but randomly faced, i.e., some with the hollow sleeve portion leading, and some with the reduced diameter portion leading. A reciprocating transfer plate moves contacts singly to an orienting slot in a base plate, the slot being narrow at its ends, wider at its median portion, so that whichever way a contact is facing when moved over the slot, it falls through the slot into a feed tube with its reduced diameter leading.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 7 WORK ORIENTER This is a division, of application Ser. No. 113,341, filed Feb. 8, 1971.

This invention relates to a work orienting means particularly useful in an apparatus which feeds and crimps items, such as electrical contacts of a type having a hollow sleeve portion at one end and a reduced diameter portion at the other end. In such an apparatus the sleeve may be crimped inwardly into a rigid gripping relation to the end portion of a wire inserted therein. The reduced diameter portion may be of either pin or socket configuration to act either as a male or a female contact.

Crimping machines are employed for the purpose of enabling an operator to fix an electrical contact to the end portion of a wire. The wire is inserted into the sleeve portion of the contact which is held in place in a crimping position within a crimping mechanism of the machine, and then the operator actuates a switch to cause the crimping mechanism to indent the sleeve inwardly. The crimped contact and the end portion of the wire fixed thereto is removed from the crimping mechanism, and another contact is then moved to the crimping position, whereby another cycle of operation may be repeated. Where the contacts are supplied in bulk for use with such an apparatus, it is necessary to provide some means for feeding contacts to the crimping device serially, all facing the same way.

Briefly, the above and further objects are realized in accordance with the present invention by providing an orienting mechanism for receiving the contacts oneby-one directly from a supply means and for dropping each contact with a predetermined orientation relative to its pin and sleeve portions into a feed tube for guiding it to the crimping device. The orienting means includes a pivotally mounted arm for moving a contact to an orienting slot in a plate. The supply means includes a vibrator for imparting vibratory motion to a supply bowl resiliently mounted on a support structure, and the plate of the orienting mechanism is connected to the support structure so that the plate is gently vibrated to assist the movement of the contacts to and through the orienting slot without interfering with the orienting operation.

These and further objects of the present invention will be understood more fully and completely from the following detailed description when considered with reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a crimping apparatus employing the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of an electrical contact, which may be fed and crimped by the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the orienting mechanism of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a pivotal arm of the mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a base plate of the mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the plate of FIG. 5 taken substantially along the line VI-VI thereof;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the plate of FIG. 5 taken substantially along the line VII-VII thereof;

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional elevational view of the orienting mechanism of FIG. 3 and a chute for receiving the properly oriented contact:

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown an apparatus 10 for crimping work pieces, such as the electrical contact 12 having a hollow sleeve portion 14 at one end and a reduced diameter portion 16 at the opposite end thereof. The portion 16 may be of a conventional solid pin configuration to act as a male contact or it may be of a hollow socket configuration to act as a female contact, and it is to be understood that the apparatus 10 may also be adapted for feeding and crimping other similar articles as well. The apparatus 10 includes a vibratory contact supply device 20 for receiving a supply of contacts and for feeding the contacts seriatim in endto-end relation to an orienting mechanism 22, which is arranged to receive the contacts one-by-one directly from the supply device 20 and to drop each contact with a predetermined orientation of the sleeve and pin portions thereof into a chute device 24. A tube 26 is connected at its upper end to the outlet of the chute 24 and at its lower end to a positioning mechanism (not shown) for receiving the contacts 12 and for inserting the sleeve portions 14 of the contacts 12 into a crimping mechanism 31 disposed in front of the positioning mechanism. The apparatus 10 includes a support base 40, and a plurality of legs 41 fixedly mounted to and extending upwardly from the base 40 to support a plate 43, which in turn supports the vibratory contact supply device 20. The device 20 includes a supply bowl 45 which is supported above the plate 43 by means of a plurality of resilient legs 47,.which are fixed to and extend upwardly from the plate 43. A vibrator 49 is disposed below the bowl 45 to impart vibratory reciprocation to the bowl and thus to feed the contacts along a helical track 52 (partially shown inFIG. 3) extending spirally along the inner conically shaped wall of the bowl to feed the contacts seriatim in end-to-end relation to the orienting mechanism 22. For further information concerning the operation of a vibratory supply bowl, reference may be made to US. Pat. 3,150,762.

An upstanding arm 54 is rigidly connected to the support plate 43 by means of a link 56 to support the chute 24 and the orienting device 22, which has a portion thereof disposed within a recess opening 58 in the rim of the bowl 45 to receive the contacts being supplied thereto from the track 52, and which is inclined downwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 18 from the bowl 45 to cause the contacts to enter the mechanism 22 under the force of gravity. Moreover, since the mechanism 22 is connected to the plate 43, gentle vibrations are imparted to the mechanism 22 from the plate 43 to assist the contacts in their movement through the mechanism 22 without interfering with its operation. In this regard, the plate 43 does not vibrate to the same extent as the bowl 45, but the plate 43 is vibrated to a lesser extent to in turn gently vibrate the mechanism 22.

Considering now the orienting mechanism 22 in greater-detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8 of the drawings, the mechanism 22 generally comprises a base plate 61 having an arcuate edge portion 63 engaging the bowl 45 Within its recess opening 58 and having an arm 65 which is pivotally mounted on the base plate 61 at 67. Pivotally connected to one end of the arm 65 at a pivot point 69 is a piston rod 72 of a piston cylinder assembly 74, which is bolted to the base plate 61. An open-ended elongated slot 76 in the opposite arcuate end of the arm 65 extends in alignment with the pivot point 67, whereby when the arm 65 is disposed in its contact-receiving position as shown in FIG. 3, the slot 76 is aligned with an L-shaped track extension 78 of the track 52 to receive contacts which fall one at a time into the slot 76 under the force of gravity and due to the gentle vibration of the mechanism 22. After receiving a contact, the piston rod 72 causes the arm to pivot in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 from its contact receiving position to roll the contact within the slot 76 along the base plate 61 until the arm 65 comes to rest in its contact orienting position with the slot 76 disposed in alignment with a guide groove 81 in the base plate 61 to drop the contact into the groove 81. The groove 81 is an elongated groove, which extends from the arcuate edge 63 in a direction toward the pivot point 67, and which terminates in a closed end portion spaced from the pivot point 67, and the width of the groove 81 is approximately the same as the width of the slot 76 in the arm 65.

It should be noted that if two contacts become accidentally stacked or nested with the sleeve of one receiving the point of another, the two contacts are overbalanced and fall as a unit out of the slot 76 back into the bowl 45 before the arm 65 reaches its contact orienting position so that the nested contacts may become separated due to the vibratory motion of the bowl. Therefore, only single contacts are retained to move down the groove 81.

As shown in FIG. 6, the groove 81 is inclined upwardly toward its closed end, and since the base plate 61 is inclined downwardly away from the bowl 45, the contact slides along the groove under the force of gravity and in so doing moves partially out of the groove 81 and partially up into an elongated slot 83 in the arm 65 disposed in alignment with the open-ended slot 76, the width of the slot 83 being approximately the same as the width of the groove 81. The bottom of the groove 81 is rounded, and its depth under the upper end portion of the slot 83 in the arm 65 must be at least slightly greater than the diameter of the sleeve 14 of the contact 12 to permit it to move under the force of gravity partially into the slot 83 in the arm 65.

As best illustrated in FIG. 7, a channel or depressed area 85 in the base plate 61 extends perpendicularly from the bottom portion of the groove 81 to an orienting slot 87 angularly spaced from the groove 81 and aligned with and disposed between the pivot point 67 and the track extension 78. The channel 85 is inclined upwardly from the bottom of the groove 81 to the upper surface of the base plate 61 adjacent the orienting slot 87, whereby when the arm 65 pivots away from the groove 81 in a counterclockwise direction to return to its contact-receiving position as shown in FIG. 3, the contact is guided by the channel 85 and moves upwardly to the upper surface of the base plate 65 to be dropped into the orienting slot 87 with the assistance of the gentle vibration of the mechanism 22.

It should be understood that the piston cylinder assembly 74 may either be a double-acting assembly so that the travel of the piston rod 72 determines the extent of the pivotal movement of the arm 65, or it may be a single-acting assembly with a spring-bias return arrangement and with a stop member (not shown) for limiting the return movement of the arm 65 to its contact-receiving position as shown in FIG. 3. Also, the

piston cylinder assembly 74 may either be a pneumatic assembly or an electrical solenoid assembly.

The orienting slot 87 includes an enlarged central portion 83 having a width which is substantially the same as the width of the slot 83 in the arm 65, and which is slightly wider than the diameter of the sleeve 14, and a pair of narrower end portions 92 and 94 which are slightly narrower than the diameter of the sleeve 14. The length of the slot 87 is slightly longer than the length of the contact 12. Thus, when a contact 12 is rolled onto the upper surface of the plate 61 over the slot 87, the sleeve 14 may engage the plate 61 over either one of the end portions 92 or 94, and since the end portions 92 and 94 are narrower than the diameter of the sleeve 14, the contact 12 tilts downwardly with its reduced diameter point 16 falling through the opposite narrower end portion and into the chute 24 with the sleeve 14 passing through the enlarged central portion 89.

The chute device 24 is in the form of a block 96, which is secured to the underside of the base plate 61 and which has an inclined chute passage 97, the entrance to which is disposed in alignment with the orienting slot 87. The block 96 may preferably be composed of a clear plastic material so that the movement of the contacts is observable. The entrance to the passage 97 at the top portion of the block 96 is in the shape of an elongated slot, the length of which is approximately the same as the length of the orienting slot 87. The chute passage 97 is generally funnel-shaped, and opens into a slightly enlarged cylindrical passage 99, which receives the upper end of the guide tube 26 against an annular shoulder 101 at the outlet of the chute passage 97 so that the tube 26 extends out the bottom of the block 96 at an angle of approximately 31 relative to the bottom of the block 96 to direct the tube 26 downwardly toward the feed mechanism (not shown) for the crimping mechanism 31. The guide tube 26 is also preferably composed of a clear plastic material so that the movement of the contacts from the chute device 24 to the crimping mechanism 31 may be observed.

OPERATION The arm is initially disposed in its contactreceiving position as shown in FIG. 3. In order to start a cycle of operation, the operator inserts the end portion of a wire into the guide opening 35, and then depresses a foot switch (not shown) to cause the cylinder 38 to move forwardly and activate the linkage 37 for crimping the sleeve inwardly, and to cause the cylinder assembly 74 to pivot the arm 65 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 from its contact-receiving position to its contact orienting position. The vibrator 49 imparts vibratory motion to the bowl 45, whereby the contacts in the bowl 45 are fed seriatim in end-to-end relationship to the track extension 78. Thus a contact enters the open-ended slot 76 in the arm 65 of the mechanism 22, which is downwardly inclined to cause the contact to drop into the slot 76, and which is gently vibrated to assist the movement of the contact. After the piston rod 72 of the piston cylinder assembly 74 moves forwardly to pivot the arm 65 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 to its contact orienting position, the slot 76 is disposed in alignment with the groove 81. The contact then falls into the groove 81 and slides therealong under the force of gravity toward the closed end of the groove 81. As it slides along, the contact moves partially out of the groove 81 and partially into the slot 83 in the arm 65.

After the contact comes to rest at the lower end of the groove 81, under the control of relays (not shown) the cylinder 38 causes the crimping dies to retract to permit the operator to remove the wire and the contact fixed thereto from the crimping mechanism 31. At the same time the cylinder assembly 74 permits the arm 65 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 until it reaches its initial position as shown in FIG. 3 to roll the contact from the groove 81 in a perpendicular direction relative thereto within the upwardly inclined channel 85. As it rolls along the channel 85, the contact moves out of the channel and into a position over the orienting slot 87. Depending upon the random orientation of the contact, the sleeve 14 of the contact is thus positioned over either one of the narrow end portions 92 or 94 of the slot 87, while the reduced diameter point 16 is positioned over the opposite narrow end portion and falls therethrough so that the contact tilts about its sleeve 14 which then drops through the enlarged central portion 89 of the slot 87. Thus, the contact falls with its reduced diameter point 16 facing forwardly into the downwardly inclined chute passage 97. As the contact is falling through the slot 87, the next contact advancing in the extension 78 enters the open-ended slot 76 of the arm 65 to permit another orienting cycle of operation to take place.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus for feeding contacts of a type having a hollow sleeve portion of larger diameter at one end and a reduced diameter portion at the other end, orienting means comprising an inclined base plate and a transfer plate disposed against the upper surface of said base plate for reciprocable movement relative thereto between first and second positions about a pivotal axis, said transfer plate having a receiving slot therethrough, open at the upper edge of said transfer plate,

said receiving slot being in length from said upper edge substantially the same as the length of a contact and in width slightly greater than the larger diameter portion of a contact,

said receiving slot accepting contacts when in said first position, said base plate having a groove radially aligned with said pivotal axis and aligned beneath said receiving slot when said transfer plate is in said second position, said transfer plate having a second slot therein, radially aligned with said pivotal axis, said groove extending beneath and in alignment with said second slot when said transfer plate is in said second position, said base plate havmg an orienting slot aligned beneath said second slot when said transfer plate is in said first position, and

a channel formed in said base plate extending generally transversely from said orienting slot to the bottom of said groove.

2. In apparatus as defined in claim 1 said groove hav ing a lower surface inclined relative to the upper surface of said base plate to become progressively shallower to the lower end thereof.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said orienting slot has a length slightly longer than the length of a contact, a central portion slightly wider than the diameter of the sleeve portion of the contact and a pair of opposite end portions slightly wider than the reduced diameter end portion of the contact and slightly narrower than the diameter of the sleeve portion of the contact.

4. Orienting means as defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of the upper edge of said base plate traversed by said receiving slot in said transfer plate in moving from said first to said second positions is closer to said pivotal axis than the upper edge of said transfer plate, whereby a pair of nested contacts received in said receiving slot extend beyond said upper edge of said base plate sufficiently to fall thereover.

5. Orienting means as defined in claim 1 having a funnel-shaped chute beneath said orienting slot, leading into a guide tube, whereby all contacts falling through said orienting slot are led into said tube facing in the same direction. 

1. In apparatus for feeding contacts of a type having a hollow sleeve portion of larger diameter at one end and a reduced diameter portion at the other end, orienting means comprising an inclined base plate and a transfer plate disposed against the upper surface of said base plate for reciprocable movement relative thereto between first and second positions about a pivotal axis, said transfer plate having a receiving slot therethrough, open at the upper edge of said transfer plate, said receiving slot being in length from said upper edge substantially the same as the length of a contact and in width slightly greater than the larger diameter portion of a contact, said receiving slot accepting contacts when in said first position, said base plate having a groove radially aligned with said pivotal axis and aligned beneath said receiving slot when said transfer plate is in said second position, said transfer plate having a second slot therein, radially aligned with said pivotal axis, said groove extending beneath and in alignment with said second slot when said transfer plate is in said second position, said base plate having an orienting slot aligned beneath said second slot when said transfer plate is in said first position, and a channel formed in said base plate extending generally transversely from said orienting slot to the bottom of said groove.
 2. In apparatus as defined in claim 1 said groove having a lower surface inclined relative to the upper surface of said base plate to become progressively shallower to the lower end thereof.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said orienting slot has a length slightly longer than the length of a contact, a central portion slightly wider than the diameter of the sleeve portion of the contact and a pair of opposite end portions slightly wider than the reduced diameter end portion of the contact and slightly narrower than the diameter of the sleeve portion of the contact.
 4. Orienting means as defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of the upper edge of said base plate traversed by said receiving slot in said transfer plate in moving from said first to said second positions is closer to said pivotal axis than the upper edge of said transfer plate, whereby a pair of nested contacts received in said receiving slot extend beyond said upper edge of said base plate sufficiently to fall thereover.
 5. Orienting means as defined in claim 1 having a funnel-shaped chute beneath said orienting slot, leading into a guide tube, whereby all contacts falling through said orienting slot are led into said tube facing in the same direction. 